Complete HarpWeek Explanation:In this cartoon, artist W. A. Rogers chose another unusual setting (like for the
previous illustration) to communicate the message that presidential nominee
Winfield Hancock's attempt to save the Democratic party was "A Hopeless
Undertaking." Hancock has dived underwater to recover the sunken remains of
the "Democracy," which went down to its watery grave in 1860 (again,
"waving the bloody shirt" by associating the Democratic party with
secession and the Confederate cause).

Hancock's air hose is connected to the Democratic dinghy on the water's surface,
which is manned by (left to right): a former Confederate soldier, representing
Southern Democrats; Tammany Hall boss John Kelly with Irish shamrock and pipe;
Democratic party chair William Barnum at the rudder; another former Confederate
soldier; Louisville Journal-Courier editor Henry Watterson peering through a
spyglass; Speaker of the House James Randall steering the vessel; 1876
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Thomas Hendricks holding the hatch open;
Senator Allen Thurman of Ohio; 1876 Democratic presidential nominee Samuel
Tilden standing by the mast; Senator L. Q. C. Lamar of Mississippi peeking out
from behind the mast; and Senator Wade Hampton of South Carolina sounding the
"Lost Cause" trumpet. Former congressman Benjamin Butler swims
awkwardly toward the Democratic dinghy. Meanwhile, in the right-background, the
Republican ship steams effortlessly towards the capital.

Humans have used various diving techniques since ancient times, but the practice
of diving with compressed air from above the water's surface is of more recent
vintage. In 1690, the first "diving bell" was patented. It consisted
of an underwater compartment, which was connected via a pipe to weighted barrels
of air on the water's surface. A diving suit had been developed by 1828, and was
used successfully in salvage operations during the 1830s and improved upon over
the years. In 1865, two Frenchmen, a mining engineer and a naval lieutenant,
created a diving suit with compressed-air chambers on the diver's back (which
does not seem to be the case in this cartoon). It was used by the French Navy,
copied by other navies, and featured in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the
Sea (1870).